A gas turbine engine within an aircraft generally includes, in serial flow, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section and an exhaust section. In operation, air enters an inlet of the compressor section where one or more compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are then routed from the combustion section through a hot gas path defined within the turbine section and exhausted from the turbine section via the exhaust section.
Gas turbine engines for aircraft may employ automatic engine control systems, such as a Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system. In particular, for aircraft having two or more gas turbine engines, a FADEC system is desirable, because the FADEC system dynamically controls the operation of each gas turbine engine and requires minimal, if any, supervision from the pilot. However, if the FADEC system fails for one or more gas turbine engines of the aircraft, automated dynamic control is lost for the affected gas turbine engine(s). In such instances, the pilot may use a manually operated backup system to manually control the operation of the affected gas turbine engine(s). However, these manually operated backup systems add both weight and cost and, for at least these reasons, are not typically included on modern aircraft. In addition, these manual back systems require substantial supervision from the pilot. This is undesirable, especially in combat situations involving enemy aircraft.
If the aircraft does not include a manually operated back up system, conventional systems often require either that the affected gas turbine engine(s) be shut down or that the operation of the affected gas turbine engine(s) be controlled according to a predetermined operating mode upon detection of the failure of the associated FADEC system(s). Thus, in contrast to the manually operated backup system, the pilot is not able to provide any inputs for controlling the operation of the affected gas turbine engine(s) once it has been shut down or, in the alternative, once the engine has been placed in its predetermined operating mode. This is particularly undesirable, because the pilot can no longer adjust the engine power of the affected gas turbine engine(s). As such, any change in the engine power requirements of the aircraft will be placed on the other remaining engine(s) to the extent possible and the overall range of power available to the aircraft will be diminished.
Accordingly, a system and method for allowing an operator to dynamically control a first gas turbine engine via an engine controller of a second gas turbine engine when the engine controller associated with the first gas turbine engine is not functioning would be welcomed in the technology.